the duchess will see you now

The Easter Parade

Before April comes to its utter end, I should let my dear loved ones in on my take on Easter Sunday – right? If for no other reason than they may have fond memories themselves which will be triggered by the photos posted herein. So, without further ado . . .

Usually Easter is cold and wet enough around here to wear your winter coat and a scarf. For someone like me, who longs for equatorial heat even on some “cooler” evenings in July, cold Easters mean that I cannot even stand to wear a dress under my winter coat, but rather have to don pants and my winter boots over heavy socks. But this Easter was anything but usual.

It was a true Easter Parade outside of St. Paul’s Cathedral. All the women and little girls looked darling, while the men looked dashing in their spring suits. The cathedral was full at high mass and looked lovely adorned with white lilies. Unfortunately, I didn’t take my camera with me and if I thought I might manage to get pictures at home of everyone in their Easter best, well, forget about it. Before I could say, “Say cheese,” my family had changed back into their casual clothes. Which was okay, I guess, because we had an Easter-egg hunt to attend.

The day before, Luvy and I planned to head down to the playground after church and hide 3 dozen colored plastic eggs filled with money for the kids to hunt. Yim was on his way into the city with his 3 boys and time was of the essence. Lord Mycol pitched in and helped Luvy and I hide the eggs. Once they were hidden, Rock brought Rockwell down, and Yim arrived with Bird, Choc, and NB. These four boys hit the ground running and scoured the playground for Easter-eggs. In a half an hour’s time, each of them had a nice blue grocery sac of eggs, which they wouldn’t dare put down for fear of losing them. They ran, climbed, and played all over the playground. Their bags rustled and jingled behind the sounds of shouts and laughter.

Lord Mycol was being the best big cousin that day. I enjoyed watching him help Rockwell, the youngest boy in the bunch, find his share of eggs. He helped him reach things by picking him up, he helped him get his shoes back on when he had stones in them, and he helped him count his booty.

The Easter Bunny stopped by the playground after the hunt.

That is Yim and NB’s bunny, Wolverine. He was a birthday gift for NB, who says, “I’m going to be a zoo-keeper, a scientist, and work at the pet store. I’m gonna be a busy man!”

While us big kids occupied the little kids at the schoolyard, the real grown-ups got the feast ready and the table set back at the house.

The entire holiday was spent in anticipation of mealtimes, which are the keystones of family life. On holidays past and also in Italy, I have spent a good 6 hours at the dining table, listening to stories, eating great food, and drinking a little vino!